Milan Kundera, The unsustainable lightness of being.
A therapy dog is one that is specifically selected, educated and trained to integrate into therapeutic or educational programs, at the service of the professional, in order to facilitate the achievement of established objectives and bring about a significant change in the lives of people.
It is not worth any dog, it is not enough that it is very affectionate and good, and that everything is allowed to be done. In order to obtain a therapy dog, you must find the individual that has certain rigorous requirements (morphological and character). And then educate and train him specifically for this job.
We must do so because we work with vulnerable people and there is no margin for error. The dog must be 100% reliable.
Because they are social animals, they like to cooperate with humans. They seek contact with people and interact spontaneously and voluntarily.
They establish strong links with their guides. They love to work, they want to feel useful. They are very adapted to human environments, their routines and protocols.
They adapt to any environment and situation, we can take them without problems everywhere. Therefore, it costs them nothing to integrate into intervention programs to help people.
The therapy dogs know when they have to approach people and how to do it. They have spontaneous reactions that, when the technician knows how to take advantage of them, greatly benefit the therapeutic process.
A therapy dog must be healthy and clean, with daily health checks. Must have an excellent education, a very good basic obedience. He must have obtained an official recognition as a therapy animal and must have a civil liability insurance. Keep in mind that the work of a therapy dog is hard, because it can be subjected to stressful environments, and users can sometimes have unforeseen reactions. The therapy dog should feel comfortable and calm in any circumstance, and should want to collaborate and work at all times. They must be very sensitive to know how to behave with each person, and also be guided by the technician.